Dear Lifehacker,I'm thinking about starting my own blog. I don't expect it to make me stinking rich,
but what are the chances I can quit my day job and make a living just by
blogging? I see all these success stories, but how much money can I really make?

Signed,
Burgeoning Blogger

Dear BB,
If you're passionate about a subject and you have decent writing skills,
blogging definitely could be an alternative career path for you. The short
answer is, yes, it is possible to make a living—a very good one, even—by writing online.
On the other hand, the hard truth is most of the millions of bloggers today don't make enough
to support themselves just with their blogs. Let's take a look at what's
involved.

Blogging as an Occupation

There are two main approaches to professional blogging: You could be a
freelance or employed blogger for an established company or site (like
those of us here at Lifehacker), or you can start your own blog from scratch.

Getting a job as a professional blogger is much easier than starting at ground zero with your own blog. Those who get a job with an established company can earn a good living right off the bat.

Setting up and monetizing (ugh) your own blog, however, takes a lot more work, like starting
your own business. There's no real career path or trajectory to base
expectations on. Some people have made hundreds of
thousands of dollars writing their blog (or sold their blogs for millions), while
others have yet to make a cent from theirs.

Dear Lifehacker, I'm tired of the rat race and have been dreaming about starting my own…
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The truth is, it's not as easy to carve out your space on
the web and make a name for yourself as a blogger today, as it was back when blogging
was brand new. And it takes a lot of time to build your audience to the point where it's successful. (The most successful, multi-million
dollar blogs today were started around 2005 or earlier.) So it's definitely
not something you can get rich quickly with, though many people do work on
their blogs full time.

How Much You Can Earn

Salaries for bloggers vary widely. This report from Glassdoor shows ranges from $19K to $79K a year for the title "blogger," while other sources say the 14% of bloggers who earn a salary make, on average, $24K a year (or $33K for corporate bloggers). Likewise, freelance bloggers can make anything from under $10 a post to $100 or more for a relatively short post.

As for running your own blog, a survey
of 1,000 bloggers by Blogging.com in 2012 found that 17% are able to sustain
their lifestyle or support their family with their blogs, while 81% never make even
$100 from blogging. The other 2% spend less than 2 hours a day blogging but
make more than $150K (Tim Ferriss
types).

Another survey, this one of 1,500
ProBlogger readers who said they're trying to make money by blogging, found
that 9% make between $1,000 and $10,000 a month and 4% make over $10,000 a
month. But the vast majority makes less than $3.50 per day. (Most of these were blogs less than two years old, though.)

How much you could
make would depend on several factors, including how often you blog, the quality
of your content, how competitive your topic is, and how effective you are at building
an audience and generating traffic. Plus a generous sprinkling of luck.

Dear Lifehacker, As a side project/experiment, I’ve started my own blog. The problem is, now that I …
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A blog itself isn't really a business—it's more of a
platform for other income streams. Your content alone won't likely make
you money. Instead, you'll have to get advertisers, sell services like consulting or
speaking, use affiliate marketing to get a percentage of sales from links
people click on your blog, or maybe offer products like ebooks or premium
content to actually generate income. ProBlogger has an excellent post about
these different ways
you can make money.

Success Won't Come Quickly or Easily

Don't let this discourage you, but just know it could take
months, if not years, to start making a living with your blog. Heed this
advice from blogger Amy Lynn Andrews and Angela of the Coupon Project:

I always tell folks that I worked for 8 months on my blog
before receiving a single check! You have to make sure you are committed and
passionate about what you're blogging about. Focus first on quality content and
bringing in traffic. And if you NEED the money…like NOW? Don't start a blog.
Get a day job.

I'd say give yourself at least 6 months before you start
pulling in an income. And even then, it'll most likely be coffee money.

The other reality is you'll probably have to product
a ton of content to generate meaningful income—and that's a significant
time investment. Writing at least one post a day is best, but that one post
could take hours of research, writing, and editing, depending on the content. It's hard work.

Even when the job market is really tough, as it is now, there's a simple way you may be able…
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It's okay if you started your blog because you love to
write, but if you're waiting on your blog to make you rich, it won't.

Because it's a blog and not a business.

Sometimes I think we just need permission to do the things
we love without having to make a living at it.
So I'm giving you permission. I'm
telling you it's fine for you to have a blog that gives you an outlet for your
creativity, allows you to talk about things that are important to you and lets
you stay connected to friends and family. You don't have to try to monetize
your joy.

Want to see more details on how much other bloggers make and
what kind of traffic they get? Check out this
post and its
companion on Beauty Through Imperfection.